Virtual Universe

As the administrative hub of Qiu Long Planet, Qiu Long Main City possesses a sufficiently large surface area and an extremely low population density. Consequently, the air traffic density above the city is not actually very high, which allows Lu Yan'an to maintain a relatively fast flight speed as he moves forward.

"There is still some common sense I need to drill into you, lest you make a fool of yourself when you venture out into the universe in the future!" Speaking of this topic, Lord Shen's expression becomes slightly more serious.

"The Universe Galaxy Bank, the Universe First Bank, the Giant Axe Dojo, the Universe Mercenary Alliance, and the Virtual Universe Company—these five are the absolute behemoths of the universe. Any other force is insignificant in the face of these five giants, including those so-called 'high-level cosmic civilizations.' Among these five, the Virtual Universe Company is the most unique."

"The other four major forces were all established on the foundation of the Virtual Universe Company! Although it is claimed externally that the Giant Axe Dojo possesses the greatest strength, in reality, this assertion has always been subject to doubt..." Lord Shen begins his lecture on common sense and analysis of the current situation.

If I hadn't read the original story, I would have definitely been led astray by this brilliant analysis of yours... Lu Yan'an begins to vent frantically in his heart. However, although Lord Shen's analysis is complete nonsense, the conclusion he reaches happens to hit the mark—only by joining the Virtual Universe Company can one receive the most suitable training.

Although the Giant Axe Dojo possesses the Giant Axe Founder, one of the only two true gods among the human race, he is truly not well-suited for teaching disciples. In the original story, as the pillar of the human race, the Giant Axe Founder spent his entire life running about for the revival of the race. Even when he did take on disciples, he rarely had time to provide guidance, as he was basically always adventuring in the Universe Ocean.

The Virtual Universe Company, however, is completely different. The Lord of Darkness even trained a disciple at the level of a Universe Lord, the Lord of Youhou, and the City Lord of Chaos is the master of City Lord Luo. In terms of teaching disciples, the two forces are truly not on the same level.

Just as he is thinking this, the voice of Lord Shen calling out reaches Lu Yan'an's ears: "We're here, we're here! We're about to arrive at the Virtual Universe Company!" Lu Yan'an focuses his gaze and sees the sign for "Virtual Universe Company," written in the universal language of the universe, which is extremely large and eye-catching. The company's building is also more prominent compared to the surrounding structures.

Lu Yan'an begins to descend slowly toward the ground...

Qiu Long City, Virtual Universe Company branch.

"Sir, is there anything I can help you with?" A beautiful Ape-man Race woman wearing a red uniform bows slightly.

"Open an account," Lu Yan'an says directly.

"For account opening services, how much Virtual Universe Network fee would you like to pay at once? It is divided into three tiers: 100 years, 1,000 years, and 10,000 years. The annual network fee is 10 Black Dragon Coins or 0.008 Ganwu Coins." The receptionist recites the service script efficiently.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan'an feels nothing; after all, he is a man carrying hundreds of thousands of Ganwu Coins!

Generally speaking, it is mostly humans at the Planetary Level and above who use the virtual network normally, while very few people below the Planetary Level can afford such high "internet fees."

"You have Consciousness Induction Helmets here, right?" Lu Yan'an asks.

On Yuan Planet, the people are currently still in the feudal era and do not even know what the internet is. Lu Yan'an intends to buy some Consciousness Induction Helmets to leave for his relatives on Yuan Planet to use.

"Consciousness Induction Helmets are 10 Black Dragon Coins each." A flash of surprise passes through the receptionist's eyes; primitive Consciousness Induction Helmets are basically no longer used these days.

"What about anonymous accounts?" Lu Yan'an asks further.

In the universe, some planet lords buy Consciousness Induction Helmets for the citizens of their planets to use. These are generally anonymous accounts. However, anonymous accounts... usually have a validity period of 100 years. Once they expire, the account must be repurchased.

This type of anonymous account cannot be bound to a specific user.

In other words, anyone can use it, for a maximum of 100 years.

"Anonymous accounts have a fixed validity period of 100 years, and the price for each account is 2,000 Black Dragon Coins, or 1.6 Ganwu Coins," the receptionist smiles and says.

"Very good."

Lu Yan'an nods slightly. "I need 10 anonymous accounts and 10 Consciousness Induction Helmets. Open the accounts and pay for 1,000 years."

Using his citizenship status from the Black Dragon Empire, processing the account opening is very easy.

After paying 170 Ganwu Coins, all procedures are completed.

"Sir, the 10 anonymous accounts have been bound to these 10 Consciousness Induction Helmets. This is your change, thank you for your patronage," the receptionist says with a smile. Lu Yan'an flicks his hand, stores the 10 induction helmets directly into his Space Ring, turns around, and leaves.

After leaving the gates of the Virtual Universe Company.

"Lord Shen, let's enter the Virtual Universe," Lu Yan'an says.

"Haha, I've been waiting for this day for a long time!" Lord Shen is extremely excited. Ever since it entered Yuan Planet to guard its master's inheritance, it hasn't entered the Virtual Universe for a long time. Its personality was naturally active, and staying in a small place like Yuan Planet was no different from being in prison! Now that it can finally enter the Virtual Universe again to roam freely, it is even more excited than Lu Yan'an! However, although Lu Yan'an can now multitask, he does not yet have the ability to "split his consciousness," so he needs to find a safe place before entering the Virtual Universe.

An hour later, inside a hotel on Qiu Long Planet.

Lu Yan'an releases the Mithril Guard from his Space Ring to stand guard over him. Then, his entire consciousness begins to drift to another place...

"Connecting to the Virtual Universe..."

A deep, vast voice echoes in Lu Yan'an's consciousness.

His consciousness falls into darkness.

In the Virtual Universe, there are games, gourmet food, beautiful women, finance, trading, martial arts competitions, learning... everything exists, and it gathers all the human elites of the universe. Some people treat virtual games as reality, playing for hundreds or thousands of years. Some even get married and have children within the Virtual Universe. Basically, as long as you have money, the Virtual Universe can satisfy all your requirements.

But if you spend all day immersed in the Virtual Universe, or even playing virtual games, unless you have no pressure, no ambition, and money to burn, you will mostly end up in tragedy! This is basically an inevitable fate.

"Lu Yan'an, congratulations on arriving at the Virtual Universe. Now, let's begin the first step on your path of cultivation—understanding the Virtual Universe! Of course, for you, apart from its communication function, you don't need to pay attention to the other entertainment functions, because they are meaningless other than wasting money and killing time!"

Having arrived in the Virtual Universe, Lord Shen begins to recover its lively nature, and even its tone when introducing the Virtual Universe is incredibly cheerful.

"And do you know what the best way is for a martial artist to improve their strength?" Lord Shen looks at Lu Yan'an and asks in return.

"Diligent cultivation when resources are sufficient; adventuring in the universe when resources are insufficient?" Lu Yan'an ponders for a moment and gives his answer cautiously.

To his surprise, Lord Shen shakes its head and speaks to Lu Yan'an in a cautionary tone:

"For a martial artist wanting to improve their strength, diligent cultivation is the stupidest choice. Unless you are like a Manka Star Person or a Golden Horned Beast, born with powerful bloodlines, destined to reach the Domain Lord or World Lord level! Otherwise, life-and-death adventures are the best way to improve strength! Because the great terror between life and death is better at stimulating one's own potential!"

This is universally recognized in the universe: one cannot become a powerhouse without experiencing life-and-death adventures! Even something as powerful as the Virtual Universe cannot replace people's cultivation; it is merely an auxiliary tool for cultivation, even if it is indeed very powerful at times.

Don't look at how City Lord Luo's breakthroughs in the original story were as simple as eating and drinking, and how he seemed to have no adventures in the early stages. But if you look at his life as a whole, you will find that he was always adventuring between life and death! He was persecuted by the Vulture Couple when he was still at the Apprentice Stage and couldn't protect himself; he was beaten to the brink of death by the Golden Horned Beast after obtaining the inheritance of Yunmo Planet; after joining the Virtual Universe Company at the Star Level, he was assassinated time and time again, and went on secret realm adventures time and time again, all dancing on the edge of a blade. He rose between blood and fire, eventually becoming a legend!

"However, your situation is different from others!" At this moment, Lord Shen smiles with a cunning look.

"You are an Illusion Martial Artist! Although the cultivation of domain laws cannot be replaced by the Virtual Universe, it can help you with your training as an Illusion Martial Artist!" Upon hearing this, Lu Yan's eyes light up. That's right! Didn't the Illusion Martial Artist assessment he passed just happen to include training for an Illusion Martial Artist?

Thinking of this, Lu Yan'an asks with some anticipation: "Lord Shen, are you saying that the Virtual Universe has a way to help me improve my illusion training?"

Hearing Lu Yan'an's inquiry, Lord Shen replies in a somewhat suspenseful manner: "Of course there is! But that will have to wait until you break through to the Star Level. You should put your Illusion Martial Artist training aside for now; let me talk about martial artist training, which is a resource you can use at the Planetary Level."

Hearing this, Lu Yan'an stops worrying about the Illusion Martial Artist matter and looks at Lord Shen with anticipation, hoping to get the answer.

The corners of Lord Shen's mouth curl up, and it says three words—Killing Field!